


Excerpts from a discussion on the origin of love potions

by foggydaysandnights



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Amortentia, Ethics, Gen, Magical Theory, Potions, world-building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-04 20:39:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18612103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggydaysandnights/pseuds/foggydaysandnights
Summary: These excerpts have been selected as having the most interest to the general public, and have been published in the Prophet as well as the Quibbler. Please refer to this month's Potions Monthly for the full article. That text has been submitted as part of a potions mastery.





	Excerpts from a discussion on the origin of love potions

**Author's Note:**

> It may surprise you, dear readers, to learn that our most forbidden love potion, Amortentia, was not at all invented for such purposes. While any NEWT Potions student at Hogwarts should be able to identify these potions, precious little is taught there about the history of potions-making. Nor were we taught of the prolonged effects of such potions. I hope you find these excerpts as interesting as I did the original article. -Editor.

Amortentia is commonly described in NEWT texts as not creating actual love, but rather an obsession and infatuation with the giver, and part of the identification of the potion lies in what we will discuss further here: its aroma is unique to everyone who smells it, and to each person it smells like whatever is most attractive to them. This smell is the greatest success of Amortentia, if we are to believe its creator. The potion was never created to be consumed, but rather to be poured onto hankerchiefs. The historical reasoning for this becomes quite obvious when one considers the noxious odours caused by the mishandling of sewage in cities in the early 1800s, along with the previailing scientific theory of miasma. Smells, the Victorians believed, particularly bad smells, led to ill health. Sickness was spread via something called miasma, which was invisible, but generally thought of as including bad odours. 

While the Bubble-Head Charm had indeed been invented earlier to this time, it was not a particularly subtle way to survive traversing Muggle London during this period when the Thames was essentially a river of raw sewage. However, Muggle custom did allow one to carry a handkerchief infused with some more pleasant scent, to cover one's nose and mouth with at particularly bad times. Many perfumers were bent on cornering the market, and the inventor of Amortentia was no different. A potion that would easily soak a handkerchief, and smelled like whatever was most pleasant to any one's nose was a triumph, and was exceedingly popular among anyone who had to go to London in those days.

The first hints of problems came from odd reports of children suddenly becoming obsessed with their caretakers. It was dismissed as a passing oddity, however, until there were a number of hasty marriages in the upper eschelons of pure-blood society. Many of these quickly resulted in accusations of trickery and bewitchment. Records have unfortunately been lost as to who could claim the achievement of proving the cause, but from what we have learned since the event, Amortentia can be absorbed in the nasal passages from a soaked handkerchief if it is sufficiently damp. It now seems obvious as to how the children's obsessions were formed, but at the time, the much larger scandal was that it was possible to coerce someone to marry you by offering them a handkerchief.

Experiments have shown that orally ingested Amortentia is generally more powerful to one's senses, but there were some mitigating circumstances. The first is that Amortentia increases in strength over time. A single long soak for a handkerchief could survive several washings, and the increase in strength appears to have compensated for the decreasing amount still present. The second is that Amortentia was quite literally soaked into the handkerchiefs for days, until they could hold no more, so as to keep the smell strong for as long as possible. 

. . .

We now recognize that a person under the effects of Amortentia cannot be held responsible for their actions, as they will do nearly anything requested of them by the person their obsession is focussed on and nearly anything suggested to improve their standing in that person's regard suggested by another person whom they trust, with no regard for how inappropriate these actions may be. This can create difficult legal situations, usually to the detriment of the person under the influence. We now regard any contract that was entered into under the influence as null and void due to a lack of informed consent, but nullification of contracts can be time-consuming, expensive, and downright impossible after a long-enough period of time has ellapsed, particularly when the other party was unaware of the potion's interference. 

Any sexual contact with someone under the influence of Amortentia is now regarded as sexual assault, and brings about the penalties related this along with the other legal matters related to the production and distribution of Amortentia. The most recent change in legislation as of this publishing is the 1980 amendment specifying legal penalties for the unknowing use of Amortentia by a person under the impression that it is a lesser love potion.

. . .

Many studies have been conducted on the short-term effects of Amortentia, and the most common effects can be found listed in most NEWT Potions textbooks. Other side effects are considered to be more rare, but many have been observed (see "A List of Observed Amortentia Side Effects," in Potions Monthly from December 1973). Most papers agree that a single dose does not usually result in lasting physical harm, though mental and emotional effects have been observed in a majority of cases examined.

Fewer studies on longer-term effects of Amortentia in humans exist, partly due to the ethical quandaries involved. Meta-analyses of case studies have shown, however, that PTSD is a common result of prolonged exposure, along with anxiety and depression. Partly due to this, long-lasting physical effects have been difficult to quantify. Other studies have shown, however, that prolonged use of Amortentia can lead to damaged fertility. In particular, sperm produced under the influence are statistically more likely to be damaged or contain mutations whose full effects are unknown (too few case studies exist to quantify any effect). This effect seems to reduce with time after the discontinuation of use, but it has been speculated that sufficiently long use could result in permanent infertility. Damage to eggs appears to occur more slowly, but is more permanent, as eggs are not produced every few days as sperm are.

. . .

There have been a few published case studies on the long-term effects of Amortentia that include effects on children conceived under it, with the most famous (or infamous) being the case of Tom Riddle. I will not rehash the results here (Ed. note: it's quite an interesting read as well), but it, as many other case studies do, suggests that there may be long-term effects on the children conceived under (or even after) use. There has not yet been a meta-analysis of these studies to determine whether these suppositions are statistically sound, and so I will refrain from discussing them here. The widely-held belief that children conceived under the influence of Amortentia are much more likely to be sociopaths is unlikely to be true. 

. . .

While love potions as a general category all fail to reproduce the complex neurochemistry of love, it is important to understand their origins and effects. It doesn't appear that the Ministry is likely to fully ban love potions at the moment, so we must focus on long-term solutions to the abuse of said potions.


End file.
